The past hurts sometimes
by TVDFF
Summary: A story of Annie and Finnicks son. and what life was like when Finnick was still around. *the first chapter is supposed to be italics-diary entry!*
1. Chapter 1

I remember lying on the soft, sandy beach with the hot glowing sun roasting over me. The waves rushing in like a stampede. I was alone. I enjoyed being alone, away from any distractions. A place I could think. The waves reached my blonde curls, making the ends wet. I sat up, hoping to see someone, hoping that they'd realised I'd left. Only one. One person standing in the distance. The sun caught the fiery ends of her hair as the wind blew through the slight curls in the ends. Annie. Annie the only one I thought understood me. The one that always listened to me.

She slowly walked into the clear water, until she couldn't stand, and so she began to swim.

"Annie!" I shouted. "Annie!"

No answer. I knew inside that she was okay, she was the best swimmer that I knew. Better than me. I lifted my trident and jogged up to the area where she was. I could see her in the distance. A couple feet out from the beach. I dropped my trident a little way from the water and walked into it. The icy cold waves making me shiver. I began to swim, keeping my head under, only coming up for a short breath. I was so close to her, when she began to swim away from me. She was so fast.

"You're getting better!" she shouted to me from a distance. I just laughed, acting like I didn't care.

She finally stopped swimming and I caught up to her. We stood on a little bank of sand in the water, which is only visible when the tide is out.

"What brings you here?" I asked, almost out of breath.

"I er... came to see my favourite person in the world!" she laughed.

I had known Annie for years, we where close. Closer than friends.

I jogged closer to her and wrapped my arms round her waist, lifting her up. She looked down at me and kissed my lips gently. Teasing me.

Her hair waving gently in the wind, imitating fire as the sun caught it. My hair had turned matted, due to the water. I put her down and she hugged me back. It felt like forever not seeing her.

"What have you been up to the last week?" she asked me, walking into the water again. Beckoning to me to follow her.

"Catching fish with the trident and my charm" I laugh. "For extra money and food"

She laughs "you and your trident, you certainly caught me with your charm" She said splashing me with the water.

We swam slowly to the shore again, and once again Annie won. She picked up my trident, holding it like a trophy.

She gave it back to me, and I took hold of her other hand, we walked slowly down the beach, which was shaped like an arc. The sun began to set, and the waves became calmer. The sound of the waves faded away eventually, just a few sounds from the seagulls which flew past occasionally. People called Annie crazy after winning the 70th Hunger Games. That there was no point in her living. But she seemed ok to me and that's all that I care about. She calls herself Crazy too sometimes. But it would turn everyone crazy to be in those so called games. They nearly drove me crazy. We don't talk about those games to each other; they just bring back bad memories.

We strolled down the beach several times before it became too dark. When the sun had gone down, I stopped Annie, and held both of her hands in mine tightly.


	2. Chapter 2

_I couldn't stop thinking about her that night. The ways those games affected her. The way those games affected everyone. _

_My phone began to ring. _

"_Hello?" It was Annie. Annie calling me at this time, it must've been important._

"_We have to talk, it's very important" She said putting emphasis on the 'very'. _

"_Meet in the square in 5" I said before hanging up. _

_I out on my boots and walked into the squares, shutting the door quietly, making sure not to wake any of my neighbours. Annie stood there, alone. Looking fresh and clean, this was strange as it was almost 11pm. I didn't shout her name this time, I knew something was wrong. _

"_What's up?" I asked, seriously. Not smiling, no trace of a smile on my face._

"_I'm... I'm pregnant" She whispered._

_**Pregnant. **_

"_Who's the d-"_

"_You are!" she shouted, cutting me off mid-sentence. _

_I was a father. We where a family. How did families work in Panem? I thought to myself. _

"_Isn't that good?" I asked. _

"_Apart from the fact I've been kicked out of my own house." She laughed sarcastically. _

_Kicked out of her own house! It's not like she was under aged. _

"_Live with me then, we can be a proper family!" I said excitedly. Me, Annie and our baby under one roof. It was perfect. _

_I took her hand, and led her back to my house. Pushing the door open. The hall painted a maroon colour, cream carpets, and a gold rim at the skirting board and where the ceiling met the wall. It was so clean. The wide staircase met you as you entered through the door. Straight on was the kitchen, clean. To the left were the main lounge and the large bathroom. Upstairs there were 3 bedrooms, another large bathroom and a study, filled with books about how to fish, and make nets._

"_We can share a bedroom or you can have your own" I offered. _

"_I don't mind sharing" She said happily as she strolled into our bedroom and flung her bag on the floor by the wardrobe. She seemed okay now, a bit happier than she was earlier. _

"_So how long have you been pregnant?" I asked. _

"_12 weeks" She answered. She sat down gently on the bed. By the looks of her face my bed was more comfortable than the ones back at her house. I sat down next to her, Not gently, so the mattress bounced a little. _

_I put my hand on her knee. "It's all going to be okay" I said calmly._

"_I know..." She answered, resting her head on my shoulder. _

_I went into the bathroom and changed into a vest. Plain white, but it had turned grey from the soot out of my coal fire. And checked bottoms. I usually sleep without them, but Annie was here, and I didn't want her to feel too uncomfortable. I had to give Annie one of my old shirts, as she only packed a few things. To be honest she looked cute in it. _

"_I'm going to go down stairs and watch some T.V if you want to go to bed." I said. _

"_Yeah okay, I'll stay up here" She answered before yawning. _

_I made my way down stairs with my journal in my hand (hence why I'm writing). It was silent upstairs, and downstairs. Just the talking of the news guy, on the T.V. They where recapping last year's games. As it was only a week or so till the next reaping. God knows what they're going to do this year... It was up to the point where, from district 11, was being shot. And when Katniss shot Marvel. It was the only one they seemed to show. Probably the most exciting. _

_After a couple of hours I went up stairs and lay down in bed. Annie was asleep. Or from what I could see she was. I was almost asleep when she put her arm round me. And snuggled up to me. I couldn't say I didn't enjoy it though. _

_**1 week later. **_

_When I awoke, Annie was gone. Her side of the bed was undisturbed too. _

"_Annie!?" I shouted. Just like he did when he was on the beach. _

"_Yeah?" She shouted from downstairs. She was in the kitchen. The smell of coffee drifted up stairs, and it woke me up even more. Tomorrow was the reaping. Annie was just starting to get a bump. _

_I strolled down the stairs, hugged Annie from behind, and kissed he neck. She was making coffee and making eggs for breakfast. _

_We both sat down and ate breakfast. We finished just in time for the 75__th__ Hunger games announcement. _

_It said the games where to be reaped from the existing bowl of victors._

_This was bad. My heart sunk. I could be against Annie. Annie. My wife to be. The mother of my child. The child that isn't even born yet. _

"_It's ok she said." She didn't look ok, she looked worse than me. _

_Silence echoed through the house. _

_I just smiled at her. Time passed slowly. _

"_Well let's do something." I said trying to raise the mood._

_We both got dressed and washed, ready to go for a walk. _


	3. Chapter 3

_I woke early, it was reaping day. The day I'd find out if I was going back into the arena. _

_I put on simple clothes. A cream knitted cardigan which closed with silver metal hooks to the right and plain pants. I sorted my hair, making sure it wasn't messy. The blonde curls perfectly intact._

_Annie dressed simply, green top, blue pants. She brushed the tangles out of her hair and parted it through the middle. Her hands shaking with every stroke of the brush. She was scared. She shouldn't even be allowed back into the games after last time. _

"_Come here" I ask, holding out my arms, offering a hug._

_She walked over. Wrapped her arms around me tightly. She nuzzled he head into my shoulder, and she started crying. _

"_It's ok, what are the chances of you getting picked eh?" I said, trying to sound happy. It didn't work. _

_She let go, gently and carefully wiped her eyes, trying not to smudge her mascara. _

"_We should go." She said, sniffling and taking deep breaths. _

"_Okay..." I said, while exhaling. _

_She opened the door, slowly. The other victors where leaving now too. It was as if we were marching into the square. Like we where soldiers. Almost like pieces in their games. I wish there was some way to stop this. End these games. _

_There was at least 6 of us walking in lines. _

_Annie had hold of my hand the whole way there. The close we got the more she started shaking, so she held my hand tighter. _

_I gave her a hug and a quick kiss, before a peacekeeper came and split us up. _

_All 6 of us stood up on the stage. Our escort stood in the middle of us. Male and females on different sides. In front of me was a big glass bowl with only a couple slips of paper and in front of Mags the bowl stood there too. Annie looked like she was going to faint. I stood out a little and smiled at her. She didn't smile back, I didn't blame her. _

_The escort did the usual speech thing and played the video about district 13, which we had all seen time after time again. _

_She walked over to the bowl in front of me. My palms sweating. She dipped her hand into the bowl and pulled out a name. _

"_Finnick Odair." _

_**Finnick. Me. **_

_I clenched my hands together, trying to hold a straight face. I stepped forward, trying not to show my fear. I couldn't think straight. Not one volunteer. 'Thanks guys' I thought. My head was everywhere. _

_She wandered over to the females bowl. Dipped her hand in again, but exaggerating the movement of it._

"_Annie Cr-" She was cut off by Mags. _

"_I volunteer" She mumbled, waving her arms and standing straight in front of Annie. As if to guard her. _

_Annie was having a mental break down, but I wasn't allowed to help, when I did I was put back into place at the front of the stage._

_She stepped forward next to me. And smiled. A mag was my mentor. She was my family. We were so close when it came to my first games. And now Annie had been left alone. _

_Two peacekeepers came and took us straight to the train. _

"_You're supposed to let us say goodbye!" I shouted at one of them._

_He/she didn't reply. They didn't care. They didn't care about us. No one did. We were just pieces in their game. Controlled like puppets. I wish someone would listen to me. _

_Mags didn't talk on the way to the train, maybe there was no one for her to say goodbye to. She was one of the oldest in the district. Life expectancy was 70, and she was in her 80's. _

_The peacekeepers hadn't changed. They were still rough and forceful. Maybe even more than last time. _

_The train began moving, and me and Mags went and sat at the large window at the front of the train. The journey was mostly through forests, and the occasional bridge over water. _

"_Why would you volunteer for Annie?" I asked quietly._

_She didn't talk. She just smiled, and put her hand on my knee. She didn't talk much. She was a lovely lady. Really caring. I guess she just wanted to protect her. To make me happy, that I won't have to fight against the one I love..._


End file.
